Never Run From Love (Kellington Book Four) (14 page)

“I most certainly did,” said the lady in question
rather unhelpfully.  “He’s a brute, he’s a…”

“Mrs. Seton!” said Melanie.  “While I understand
your passion for your crusade, violence is never the answer.”

“Sometimes,” said Crusher, cracking his huge
knuckles, “violence is the only solution.”

As Mel talked to Crusher, Hal looked at the other
men.  Each was armed with various weapons.  He could see knives in their
sheaths, had no doubt they carried still others in their boots and probably had
blackjacks as well.  If they attacked, there was no way Hal could hold them
off.  He prayed Mel would be able to sweet talk Crusher into leaving them in
peace.

Fortunately, she was in the process of doing just
that.  “Mr. Crusher, what is your favorite hymn?”

“My wot?” he asked.

“Your favorite hymn.  Do you attend services?”

“You mean church?  I don’t go to no church.”

“Did you ever?” asked Mel.

“’Course not.  Didn’t have no time.”

“I went to church,” said another of the bully boys. 
He had a ragged scar down his face and a tattoo on his neck.  Hal suspected his
church days weren’t of the recent variety.  “Used to sing hymns with me mum.”

“Excellent!” said Mel.  “Did you have a particular
favorite?”

The man looked uncomfortable in front of his
friends.  But after a long moment, he replied “’All Praise to Thee, My God This
Night’.”

“That is one of my favorites as well,” said Mel. 
“Ladies?  Shall we?”

Then she led the group in a rendition of the hymn. 
It was a reedy performance, with most of the women looking scared enough to
faint.  But this time Hal sang along, without taking his eyes from the men in
front of him.  After a moment, the man with the neck tattoo started singing as
well.  Crusher wasn’t sure what his response should be, so he simply looked on,
bemused.

When they finished, the neck tattoo man looked as
innocent and pleased as a small boy with a neck tattoo. 

Crusher took that moment to speak.  “Look.  We was
supposed to clear you out – whatever it took.”

“How dare you!” said Mrs. Seton.  “I have a mind
to….”

“Mrs. Seton, hush!” said Mel, finally shouting the
woman down.

Crusher looked suitably impressed.  “You should all
of you leave and not come back.  The next time we sees you, it might not end so
well.”

“Thank you, Crusher,” said Hal nodding to the man,
while holding firmly to Mrs. Seton’s arm and escorting the woman away.  The
other ladies gladly followed, as closely to him as possible.  He looked over to
see Mel was no longer on the other side of Mrs. Seton.  He had a moment of
panic as he saw her shake hands with each of the four men.  They were
dumbfounded that she would do such a thing.  And when she left, they looked at
each other in disbelief.

All Hal knew was profound relief that none of the
women had been hurt, especially Mel.  Crusher and his fellow brutes had been
sent by someone.  If Hal had been alone, he would have asked them who was
behind it.  But he hadn’t wanted the ladies to linger even a moment longer.

One thing was certain.  He had to put an end to
these protests.

CHAPTER NINE

Hal peeled his eyes apart, then held up a hand to
shield himself from the glare of daylight streaming so rudely into his
bedchamber.  He estimated it was some time after noon and it was days like this
when he wondered whether it might be possible to alter his schedule so he
didn’t see the sun at all.

After delivering Melanie home the previous evening, Hal
had sought out Charles Francis.  Truth be told, he’d been ducking his friend
for several days.  But Francis had doggedly tried to track Hal down, finally
leaving a message with Heskiss that he would arrive at Lynwood House the next
morning and wait as long as it took to see him.  Since Hal hadn’t wanted
Francis and Lynwood bumping into each other, he’d sought his friend out the
previous evening, catching up to him at Dill’s.  After spending time – and
blunt there – Francis had persuaded him to go to another hell, then yet
another.  Before Hal knew it, he was once again stumbling home at daybreak.

Francis had taken Hal’s association with Mrs.
Seton’s group with good humor.  He found it incredibly amusing that one of the
ton’s
leading rakes would lend his support to a temperance movement and in the
company of veritable dowds.  At Hal’s glare, he’d amended his statement to
exclude Miss Sutton, then added he found her quite comely.  That only made
Hal’s glare worsen, which set Francis off on howls of laughter.

It was after that when Francis had dragged Hal to
Madame Thurmond’s.  Hal hadn’t wanted to go, but when he’d said as much,
Francis had begun teasing him about Miss Sutton again, accusing Hal of being
led about by the nose, since he was certain no other body part would be lucky
enough to be in the chit’s presence.  Hal accompanied him to the brothel for no
other reason than to shut the man up.

Madame Thurmond, discreet as always, didn’t mention
Hal’s visit to her establishment some weeks earlier and neither did the girls. 
He did, however, receive a few curious looks as he passed by.

Hal didn’t want to answer questions, so for once he
passed on his regular girls and chose instead two new ones.  If they’d been
curious at the beginning of their session, they were no doubt even more so by
the end of the hour.  For Hal did nothing with the girls other than talk.  He
did not want to think overly much as to why he chose not to have sex with
either of them.  He certainly had the right to abstain if he so chose.  No need
to put a reason to it.  And especially no need to put a name or a face or a
pair of courtesan’s stockings to it.  Just the thought of those stockings made
him harder than either of the two girls could possibly do if they tried.  Then
he paid them well to keep quiet about his non-participation.

No sense giving Francis one more thing to tease him
about. 

That had been his evening.  Now he lay in bed,
wholly regretting the spirits he’d imbibed at Madame Thurmond’s.  Just as he
was contemplating going back to sleep, there was a knock on the door. A footman
entered with a note on a silver salver.  If the servant had noticed the
misspellings on the envelope or the rather sloppy seal, he didn’t say a word.

Hal dismissed the man and then opened the note from
Melanie’s maid.  He read it, then with a groan got up to quickly made his ablutions
and dress.

*                    *                    *

The trip to the docks hadn’t been as long as Melanie
had expected.  Traffic had been lighter than usual, while the harbor itself was
just as busy as it always was.  Melanie’s excitement couldn’t be contained. 
The ship from America had arrived only a short time earlier and she eagerly
scanned the area to see if she might find the captain. 

“Miss Sutton!  What a lovely surprise.”

At the familiar voice, Melanie turned to find not
the captain, but Richard Parker himself.  The surprise was a welcome one as she
hugged her old friend.  At five and twenty, Richard Parker was a popular
bachelor in their area of Philadelphia.  He was well over six feet in height
and while he was known to be a scholarly type, he had the well-formed body of a
man used to hard work and exercise.  He was an avid rider and often worked in
the gardens of his comfortable home.  Some people thought him proud, but only
those who mistook his shyness.  He was fiercely devoted to the cause of helping
less fortunate women.

Melanie smiled and reached for his hands.  “Why did
you not tell me to expect you?” she asked, as he leaned down to kiss her cheek. 

“Truthfully, my trip was so hastily planned that any
letter I could have written would have arrived on this very ship.  But I trust
you will forgive me.”

“Forgive you for what?” asked Hal, as he joined
them.  He neatly inserted himself between the two of them and stuck out his
hand.  “Lord Henry Kellington,” he said.

Richard looked at him appraisingly, then put out his
own hand.  “Richard Parker.  I am a friend of Miss Sutton’s from Philadelphia.”

Hal’s brows immediately knitted together and Melanie
noticed that both men squeezed each other’s hands as if dangling from a ledge
and trying not to fall.

“You’re the Quaker?”

“Not exactly,” said Parker.  “But I did attend a
Quaker school.  I confess I am at a loss for how you know Melanie, Lord Henry.”

And he looked most adamant that it be explained.

“And I am most curious as to why you have suddenly
come to London, apparently unannounced.  Or perhaps you have only now realized
how dangerous this mad start of Miss Sutton’s is that you have encouraged.”

“Lord Henry!” admonished Melanie. 
Mad start,
indeed
.

Richard narrowed his own eyes.  “Miss Sutton and I
have been working to help women make a new life in America.  There is no
madness about it.”

“What do you call it when a young lady risks not
only her reputation but her very life by going to dangerous parts of town,
trying to recruit prostitutes in alleyways, and venturing to the docks by herself?”
demanded Hal.  “And I was led to believe you would be much older.”

“How dare you admonish my friend, Lord Henry,” said
Mel, having had her fill of the arrogant male posturing.  “And what are you
doing here if not spying on me?” 

“I am trying to keep you safe, Miss Sutton,” Hal
gritted between his teeth.  “The docks are no place for a lady.”

Melanie expected Richard to come to her defense, but
instead he turned on her, too.  “Kellington is right, Melanie.  You really
shouldn’t have travelled to the docks by yourself.  And what’s this about you
confronting fallen women in alleyways by yourself?  You didn’t tell me you were
doing that.”

The look of smug satisfaction on Hal’s face put
Melanie in a sour mood.  It was true she hadn’t exactly been honest with
Richard about how she was approaching the women.  But he had no idea how much
London society limited a lady’s options.  She would never have gained her
uncle’s permission to have Mary accompany her.  And she never would have
dreamed of sneaking out with her cousin.  Risking her own reputation and safety
was one thing.  But she would never place Mary at risk.  And there simply
weren’t any other ladies she could trust.  Unfortunately, the ladies in Mrs.
Seton’s group were far too timid.  And if Mrs. Seton learned what she was
doing, Mel felt certain the old crone would tell her uncle.    

She turned to Parker.  “Richard, it is the only way
for me to expand the circle of women I reach.  And we want to give as many
women as possible a new start, don’t we?”

“We do,” said Richard kindly, “but not at the risk
of your safety.  Promise me you won’t take such chances in the future.”

“I promise I will be much more careful,” said
Melanie with a smile.  She reached out and squeezed his hand.

Hal studied them both, then turned to Richard. 
“You’re not going to fall for that, are you?”

Richard bristled slightly.  “You’re not questioning
Miss Sutton’s honor, are you?”

“I’m paying her the compliment of knowing she’s
smarter than either of us when it comes to getting what she wants.  She’s
really quite wily.”

“Just because I gave you the slip that day, doesn’t
mean I am not to be trusted,” said Mel.

“She gave you the slip?” said Richard to Hal with
more than a hint of a smile.  “No wonder you feel she’s smarter than you.”

“I said she was smarter than
us
.  And if you
expect her to heed your advice about remaining safe, I suggest you hire a
keeper for her – one that’s not her abominable maid.”

“Flora is the one who told you where I was today, was
she not?” asked Melanie.

“She does have her uses,” said Hal, feeling a bit
better to see Mel’s disgruntlement.  Why should he be the only one who was
unhappy with the situation?  “Where are you staying, Parker?”

“I was hoping to stay at Mitchell House,” he said. 
“I know men are generally not allowed, but I would like to throw myself into
the work as much as possible.”

“I’m sure that can be arranged,” said Mel.  “But you
are more than welcome to stay at my uncle’s.  We need only collect your trunks
and we can be on our way.”

“Mitchell House would be better,” said Hal.  “I’m
all for Parker throwing himself as hard as possible so he can be on his way
back to America.  And when will that be, exactly?”

Richard studied Hal for a long moment.  “I had planned
to go back on the ship’s return journey in ten days.  But I may stay longer.”

Hal’s scowl grew even darker.  But Mel couldn’t
worry about such nonsense now.  If the ship was leaving again in ten days, then
she needed to find four women to be on it.  As of now, she had several women
who were interested, but none who had committed.  She needed to resolve the
issue as soon as possible.